2019 Free Museum Day & Sacramento Museum Week

25 Museums to Participate in Free Museum Day on Saturday, February 2

Update — With 25 museums participating by offering complimentary admission, the 21st Annual Free Museum Day takes place on Saturday, February 2, 2019, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. New this year, the popular day is also the kick-off to Sacramento Museum Week (February 2-8, 2019) filled with special events, activities and activations at various museums. While admission is complimentary to everyone on Free Museum Day only, regular admission applies at all museums during Sacramento Museum Week. Coordinated by Sacramento Area Museums (SAM) with the support of Visit Sacramento, Free Museum Day and Sacramento Museum Week in 2019 are proudly presented by Sutter Health and sponsored by California Family Fitness.

“We are thrilled to present the 21st Annual Free
Museum Day plus extend the fun by offering a new Sacramento Museum Week this year,”
said Sacramento Area Museums Chair Delta Pick Mello. “We’d especially like to
thank our presenting sponsor Sutter Health and our returning sponsor California
Family Fitness for providing much-needed resources to help us to present these
important events. Our continuing goal as a collaborative organization is to introduce
the community to the amazing array of arts, culture and museum offerings
available in the greater Sacramento region.”

Free Museum Day is a popular cultural tradition designed to
encourage all members of the community to experience the Capital City’s
incredible wealth of art, history, science and wildlife, free of charge. Many
of the museums are within walking distance of each other and easily accessible
via public transportation.

And, to help easily and conveniently transport guests who
wish to visit multiple museums in Sacramento’s urban core, Sacramento Regional
Transit (SacRT) is offering free rides on all buses and light rail trains on
Saturday, February 2 only with a printed SacRT Museum Day flyer (only one flyer
needed per family or group). A screen shot of the flyer from a smartphone is
also acceptable. To print or display the flyer, please visit www.sacrt.com. For more information
specifically about SacRT park-and-ride stations and schedules, visit sacrt.com/services.

On Free Museum Day, event coordinators suggest that guests
plan to visit no more than two or three different museums on this day in order
to allow adequate time to enjoy the experience and to travel between individual
sites. Due to the popularity of Free Museum Day, some locations must limit the
number of admissions for safety reasons. The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. but note the last guests will be admitted at 4 p.m.

In addition to complimentary admission, some museums offer special activities on Free Museum Day, a sampling of which follows:

Special Activities on Free Museum Day

Saturday, 2/2

– 25 local museums and popular destinations offer free admission along with some that will present special activities for guests, including:

– California Agriculture Museum invites families and kids of all ages to experience activities that feature a Caterpillar 10, a fleet of pedal tractors and a coloring station to help experience what it was like growing up on a farm.

– Locke Boarding House Museum will offer historic docent tours (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) of one and only Rural Chinese Town in America.

– Maidu Museum & Historic Site will have a Mountain Maidu Basketry exhibit on display that focuses on the Baker family basket weavers. They will also have several kid’s activities and crafts available all day that includes a pine nut bead bracelet that kids can make and take home with them.

– Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum will serve cake and punch to visitors while they mark the anniversary of the opening of Sacramento’s first public school in February, 1854. Re-enactors will be present to show what schools and educators were like during that time.

– Powerhouse Science Center will have a DJ on-site along with science trivia, food trucks and other community partners with tables outside the grounds. Inside the museum visitors can experience the newly opened Expedition Science.

– Roseville Utility Exploration Center will host Bird & Bug Bonanza, a free family event held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Guests can peer through microscopes at pond scum, hold composting worms in their hands, watch bees buzz around their hive and meet some rescued ambassador birds. They can also flow down the storm drain on a journey to explore Cruddy Creek, an indoor interactive creek crawl then head to the game room to win prizes playing Busy Bees, Lady Bug Power and Flip-In Creek plus get their face painted or build a birdhouse to create a safe home for local backyard birds ($10 materials fee, while supplies last).

– Sacramento History Museum will offer gold panning and special activities outside the museum on Free Museum Day but the inside of the museum will be closed for renovation during Museum Day & Week. Additionally, Old Sacramento Underground tours are available at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and a Gold Fever! Game tour is available at 2:30 p.m. that day (regular prices apply for the walking tours).

– Sojourner Truth African American Museum will offer art activities for children and families, story time, face painting, film documentaries, entertainment special exhibitions, a food court and mural tours throughout the day.

– Verge Center for the Arts will present hands-on activities and special tours.

20+ Local Restaurants & Eateries Extend Special Offers on Free Museum Day

To make the day even more special, the following local restaurants and eateries are extending discounts and offers on February 2 to those wearing a Sacramento Area Museum sticker they receive at any of the participating museums and destinations that day only (or displaying the sticker on their smartphones):

– 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Sacramento Historic City Cemetery volunteers will be available to answer questions about the Cemetery, help visitors find specific graves or assist with their genealogical research.

– 10:30 a.m. to noon (drop-in) — Crocker Art Museum will present an Artful Tot program where toddlers explore art making with various materials.

– 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Locke Boarding House Museum will offer a free book mark making demonstration with Joy Kuo Master in the Locke Art Studio.

All Week

– California State Railroad Museum will have a 1920s historic rotary snowplow on display and a companion exhibit titled “Snowbound in the Sierra.”

– Museum of Medical History will have docents available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during Sacramento Museum week, Monday through Friday, February 4-8.

– Sacramento History Museum will offer Old Sacramento Underground tours daily and Gold Fever! Game tours on the weekend. Walking tours start at the Sacramento Visitors Center, 1002 Second Street in Old Sacramento while the History Museum undergoes renovations.

– Verge Center for the Arts will offer new and renewing members who sign up during Museum Week will receive an extra three months added to their membership.

*Not all SAM member museums will be able to officially participate in Free Museum Day on February 2, 2019, by offering complimentary admission so please review the participant list carefully and/or contact them directly with any museum-specific questions.

**Some museums not able to participate in Free Museum Day on February 2 by offering complimentary admission that day are still able to participate in Sacramento Museum Week.

For
more information about upcoming activities offered by Sacramento area museums,
“like” them on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SacMuseums, follow them on Instagram
and Twitter @SacMuseums or visit the user-friendly website at www.SacMuseums.org.

About Sacramento Area Museums (SAM)

Comprised
of 30 greater Sacramento area museums working in partnership with Visit Sacramento,
SAM’s mission is to raise awareness of local museums by giving the community
the opportunity to discover the region’s fine art, history, science and
wildlife treasures. SAM achieves its mission through implementing cooperative
promotions and developing strategic marketing alliances, by encouraging sharing
of knowledge and resources among its partner institutions. For more information, visit www.SacMuseums.org.